Rack for electroplating devices.



W. H. ROGERS.

RACK FOR ELEGTROPLA'IING DEVICES.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 29, 1010. I

Patented Apr. 18, 1911.

lmwmw William. H- F090 WILLIAM H.ROGERS, OF MUNCIE, INDIANA.

RACK FOR ELECTBOILLTING DEVICES.

' Specification of Letters Patent. P tented Apr. 18, 1911.

Application filed July 29, 1910. Serial No. 574,423.

To all whom it may concern: r

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. Rooms, a citizen of the United States, residin at 'Muncie, in the county of Delaware and btatc of Indiana, have invented new and useful Improvements in Racks for Electroplating Devices, of which the following is a specification.

My invention .relates to improvements in racks for electroplating devices. Its object is to provide means for suspending the article to be electroplated in the bath so that selected parts of the article shall receive a heavier plate of the metal than the remainder of the article.

It consists in a cheap, eflicient and novel form and construction of'rac'k for suspending the articles to be plated in the bath all as hereinafter described and illustrated in the drawings, in which Figure 1 1s a plan view of the device in a plating bath; Fig. 2, a vertical section of the of the circuit.

device on line 1-2 of Fig. 1; Fig.3, a vertical section of the same on line 3& of Fig. 1; Fig. 4, an elevation in perspective of'a modified form of insulating case, and Fig. 5, an elevation in perspective of a modified form of the suspending rack to be used in connection with the case shown in Fig. 4.

Referring to the drawings, in which like reference characters indicate like parts, I provide frame 10 formed of suitable electroconducting material,'the frame having a bottom 11 and upright end pieces 12, a hanger o1 handle 13 being engaged in the upper portions of the two ends 12, by'which,

the rack is supported from a conductor 14, which conductor is supported above a tank 15, in which the rack is submerged in opera tion. The conductor 14 is connected to an electric circuit in the usual manner and han-' dle or hanger 13 is also a conductor of elec tricity so that frame 10 becomes the cathode Suitable anodes 16 are suitably suspended Wlthlll'li the tank on opposite sides of the rack 10 'a nd are also connected to the electric circuit.

Extending transversely between ends 12 and secured thereto are any number of supports or shelves 17 of suitable electroconducting material. The side edges of these shelves are notched at suitable intervals to receive and retain the articles to be plated.

In the drawings I show the notches 18 of tapering formation so as to support spoons S, and thenotches on one edge of the shelf are staggered relative to those on. the oppo-' site edge. The bowls of the spoons preferably face inwardly, thereby presenting the backs of the spoons toward the anodes 16.

The sides of the rack 10 are open, but the edges of the ends 12 and bottom 11 are pro-' vided with suitable guides or cleats 19, between which are slidably arranged two side plates 19 which are formed of a suitable insulating material such as rubber or fiber, or any other material which will tend to protect the interior of the rack from the electric current passing from the anodes to the articles suspended on shelves 17. These side plates 19 are provided wit-h suitable openings 20 opposite the points on the articles where the greatest amount of metal is desired to be deposited on the articles which are suspended .on the shelves 17. In the drawings, since spoons are the articles shown, the openings 20 are opposite the back of the bowls of the spoons and openings 21 are opposite the backs or such portions thereof as it is desired to expose to the anodes. It is evident that the openings in sides 19 may be 01 any form and located therein at any desired points and that any number of shelves or supports 17 of any suitable form may be attached to ends 12 any form suitable to support the article to be plated. In practice rack 10 and the'portions of the hanger 13 which may be within the bath will be provided with an insulating coat of suitable material, so as to prevent the deposit of the metal on those parts.

It is now apparent that the current of electricity will pass from the anodes through the liquid to the articles supported on rack 10, but since the insulating plates 19' are between the anodes and the articles the portions of the articles opposite the openings receive the full force of the current while the remaining portions of the articles ,receive less force; consequently a heavier deposit of the metal in the bath will.be made on the exposed portions of the articles than that received by the insulated portions. It is further apparent that the rack is easily loaded with the articles by simply withdraw ing the insulating sides 19, whereupon the 4 articles may be easily inserted in the notches of the supports 17.

For convenience'of illustration the tank is shown of a size sufiicient to receive one rack 10, but in practice a large tank is used and a number of racks will be suspended in itpreferably submerged in the liquid in the tank.

In Figs. 4 and 5, I illustrate a modification of insulation in which instead of removably securinginsulating sides 19 to rack 10, I. provide a case formed of similar insulation to that of sides 19 and having openings 26 in the sides 27 corresponding to openings 20, 21 in sides 15). Suitable openings 28 are formed in the upper portion of ends 29 of case 25 into which are adapted to project catches 30 on ends 31 of frame which frame is inserted into case 25. This frame 32 is similar in all respects to rack 10 except that ithas no bottom or sides. Openings 33 in the upper portion of ends 31 of frame are adapted to receive the extremities of a suitable hanger such as hanger 13 2), by which the frame and case ares'uspended in the liquid in the tank. By means of catches 30 which engage in openings 28 in case 25 the case is also suspended with the frame.

What I claim is:

In a device of the character described, the combination with an electroconducting frame having horizontally disposed shelves extending longitudinally thereof, said shelves having article receiving notches in their 0p-- posite edges, the notches of one edge being staggered with relation to the notches of the opposite edge of each of said shelves, guides upon said frame, perforated plates of insulating material slidably mounted in said .2

guides, said shelves supporting the articles carried thereby in' the same horizontal but different transverse planes.

In witness whereof, I hereunto sign my name this 16th day of June, 1910.

YVILLIAM H. ROGrl lR-S. Witnesses:

MILDRED BOOTH, MYRON Hi GRAY. 

